Saudi Arabia is a country that is known to be very conservative and male dominated even in the media industry. Somayya Jabarti has been deputy editor in chief of the Saudi Gazette for a very longtime, she never thought that she would become editor in chief; especially in a country where females have so many restrictions on them. CNN.com reports that, Somayya has been working under her mentor editor in chief, Khaled Al Maeena.
Khaled appointed Somayya the position due to hardwork and dedication stating that""I've had the goal almost as long of wanting to see a Saudi woman enter the male-dominated bastion of editors-in chief, it was not a question of gender but of merit that decided and earned her this opportunity."She has received a lot of support on social media but is unsure of how the country will react as a whole. Somayya was quoted by CNN saying that ""It is a male-dominated field, like many media in the world," she said. There will be challenges, but there is ground to be broken. This is just the starting point."
According to CNN.com reporters Leone Lekhani and Michael Pearson, Somayya started in 2003 in journalism as a reporter and also a translator for Arab News which Khaled Al Maeena was also in charge of. She became deputy editor in chief at that newspaper in 2011 then joined the Saudi Gazette with Al Maeena also. I feel that it would be very challenging and rewarding for Somayya to take on this massive role of expressing the issues of such a conservative country. I think that it would be a challenge because this is a country that is ranked at the bottom when it comes to freedom of the press and she has the responsibility of writing about sensitive topics that would either have her put in jail or punished. It is rewarding for her because as a female she was given the opportunity to express herself in ways that majority of females in her country have not. She is doing the impossible in a male dominated society; she was also recognized and respected by her peer who is a male. I believe she is giving hope and inspiration to other females in her country.